From Gold Rush to global leader: New book explores California’s agricultural history
CALIFORNIA — Arcadia Publishing has announced the publication of “California Agriculture,” a new history of the state’s agriculture industry by author Patti DesMarais.
The 128-page paperback is part of Arcadia’s “Images of America” book series, featuring historical information and photographs.
Beginning with the Spanish padres in...
Newsom signs bill to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 73, Assemblymember Robert Rivas’ Farmworker Wildfire Smoke Protections Act, into law on Sept. 27.
California’s wildfire season, combined with heat waves and the Covid-19 pandemic, has helped shine a light on the necessary safety protocols agricultural...
Guest Column | Protecting Migrant Education Is a Moral Imperative for America’s Farmworker Children
At the heart of California’s $59 billion agricultural industry are the hardworking migrant farmworkers who harvest the food that feeds our nation. Their labor sustains our economy, but their children, who face extraordinary educational barriers due to the migratory nature of their parents’ work,...
Salinas Valley Fair kick-off draws strong turnout
KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fair hosted its annual Fair Kick-Off Dinner, Dance and Auction last Saturday at the fairgrounds in King City, where an estimated 450 guests attended.
The April 23 evening featured a dinner cooked by King City Young Farmers, a live auction...
Taking the vaccine into the fields to help vulnerable farmworkers
CALIFORNIA — Before state officials announced that 40% of California's new vaccine doses would go to low-income communities, leaders were struggling to make good on promises to prioritize vulnerable Californians in the vaccine rollout.
As my colleague Miriam Jordan recently wrote, farmworkers were among those...
Clash between union campaigns and private property at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — Before dawn on an October morning in 2015, representatives of the United Farm Workers turned up at a strawberry plant nursery in Northern California to meet with workers and urge them to consider unionizing.
They were able to enter the nursery’s property thanks...
ALBA program empowers Salinas Valley farmworkers to become leaders in sustainable agriculture
SALINAS VALLEY — Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) is spotlighting its transformative Programa Educativo para Agricultores (PEPA), a comprehensive training program empowering farmworkers to transition into successful organic farmers.
This program is reshaping agriculture in the Salinas Valley, offering Latino farmworkers the tools and...
South County farmer to receive national award in September
South County organic farmer Israel Morales Sr. of JV Farms Organic in Soledad will receive the Organic Farmer of the Year Award at the Organic Trade Association’s Leadership Awards set for Sept. 11 at the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore, Md.
King City farm labor contractors receive suspended prison sentences for workers’ compensation fraud
KING CITY — Monterey County Judge Rafael Vasquez has sentenced King City residents and farm labor contractors Elias Perez Jr., 43, and Alejandra Perez, 40, to three years in prison for insurance fraud committed between 2013 and 2017.
Vasquez also suspended those prison sentences, placing...
Irrigation enhancement project helps farmers regulate water usage
A new irrigation enhancement project has seen positive results for farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.
